2018 Spring "Daydream" Sheng / Raw Puerh Tea Blend

Broke into this fresh cake yesterday. Though CLT always kills it with their wrapper art, I think this one is my favourite. On top of just being cute as hell, the idea of taking a soak in a yixing pot really just captures how much comfort, relaxation, and self care can be tied together with a good session – and of coarse the tea itself is also killer!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CjtKOHpOevJ/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKMSpNLDb4w

Daydream is one of my favourite Crimson Lotus teas I’ve tried. Its highlight is the dreamy stoning cha qi coupled with a long evolving aftertaste. It seems to me, however, that it might be a tea to drink now rather than to age; the processing of most of the material seems very “green”.

It has a grassy aroma almost like a sencha with notes of apricot pits, wet wood, cream, cinnamon, cucumber, seaweed and grain appearing after the rinse.

The taste starts out savoury, floral, bitter, and vegetal with flavours such as thistles, freshly cut grass, watermelon skin (the light green part), hay, broccoli, and lavender. It has a butter-like finish and a drying citrusy afertaste reminiscent of lime and citrus zest. Later on I notice further flavours of agar wood, pine, green wood and an edamame-like sweetness. There are also some jasmine and lavender notes in the aftertaste now.

The liquor has a medium body and a lubricating, creamy mouthfeel. It is very soft and somewhat effervescent. As I mentioned already, I really like the energy of this tea. It provides a dizzying and elevating sensation that’s really a full body experience.

Good tea.

song pairing: What Am I – Why Don’t We
-——
Separately from the tea, it is a fun wrapper by Stasia Burrington. Who doesn’t want to take a private bath in tea in a giant teapot in a forest? The little piglets are a hilarious bonus.

Thematically on point but innocent enough to be in a children’s book. And the bather looks like she could be East Asian!!! Also, it doesn’t remind us of outdated, sexist names like oriental beauty and drunken concubine. Nice to feel decently represented in tea wrapper art yet not objectified. A daydream indeed.

The freshly opened package gave off a strong floral smell. There was a generous amount of bright green leaves mixed in with obviously aged ones. Course the art on the wrapper is fantastic. But is the tea fantastic?

Steep 1: After a rinse, I poured my first steep (which was under 10 seconds, Steepster won’t let me go lower then 15.). It gave me very strong notes of vegetable sweetness. Something like a beet. The liquid is surprisingly green.

Steep 2-4: A strong grass taste comes out in addition to the sweetness. Reminds me of freshly cut grass.

Steep 5 and beyond: The grass taste keeps getting stronger as the sweetness slowly disappears. I noticed hints of wood and other tastes of the forest came out. I steeped this all day long and it was still going strong.

Definitely recommend it. Probably will be buying a tong to age myself. It starting off with that young sweet green taste and shifting to forest flavors is brilliant. Just like its mix of young and old trees. If you want to buy it and drink right away its perfectly fine to do so. Its just that good

This is my first review on Steepster so I’m not good with descriptions of lingering aftertastes and tea soups :). I really enjoyed this tea. Went through the first cake pretty fast and just ordered a second one. This is just my kind of tea. I don’t like shou’s and generally enjoy young shengs. I think the description on CLT’s website about creative energy is pretty accurate. I can drink this tea at home, at work, in the morning, at night, and it’s a great all-around tea. Overall it’s more fruity than savory, it does have some astringency but no bitterness (I brew with off-boiling water for about 10 seconds, increasing time gradually). Like many others, I was drawn to this tea by the wrapper :) but it has become my go-to everyday tea.

honestly, i just bought this tea, because the wrapper looked very appealing, and of course the description sounded amazing.

after already sessioned the tea today, i decided to do another session to get deeper into it and write a small review.

the description of CLT is pretty spot on. i feel like theres is some fruitiness of darker berries and spice (curcuma?) on the wet leaf present too.

the tea soup has a nice golden liquor and feels pretty thick. there is a tiny bitterness that immediately transforms into a honey-floral-like sweetness. Jasmine is definitely noticeable. nice hui gan.

the blend of multiple years gives the tea a wonderful balance. by looking at the infused leaves, its pretty hard to determine the age an proportions. but even the oldest material wont be over ~5 years i guess.

decent tea. definetly worth a try and surely interesting to let age that thing!

edit: bought a tong now! ;)